Education, From The Capitol To The Classroom

Stories about students: How does education policy affect the way students learn and grow? Can schools meet their needs as they balance ramped-up testing with personal changes and busy schedules? And are students who need help getting it?

Stories about educators: How are those responsible for implementing education policy in schools − from classroom teachers, to district administrators, to school board members − affected by changes at the top? And how well do they meet their challenge of reaching students with varying abilities and needs?

Stories about school assessment: With an increased push for 'accountability' in schools, what can test scores tell us about teacher effectiveness and student learning − and what can't they tell us? What does the data say about how schools at all levels are performing?

Stories about government influence: Who are the people and groups most instrumental in crafting education policy? What are their priorities and agendas? And how do they work together when they disagree?

Stories about money: How do local, state, and federal governments pay to support the education policies they craft? How do direct costs of going to school − from textbooks to tuition − hit a parent or student's bottom line? And how do changing budgets and funding formulas affect learning and teaching?

Background

In what she called a “referendum” on the last four years of Indiana’s overhaul, Democrat Glenda Ritz captured 52 percent of the vote to make Republican Tony Bennett a one-term state superintendent.

State superintendent Glenda Ritz talks to reporters after announcing her candidacy for governor of Indiana. (Photo Credit: Rachel Morello/StateImpact Indiana)

Ritz says Bennett took Indiana “in the wrong direction” when it came to quality classroom instruction, an argument that resonated with educators dissatisfied with high stakes testing and teacher evaluations. But her election mandate hasn’t translated into an easy first year in office.

Ritz has clashed repeatedly with Republican Gov. Mike Pence and the 10 appointed members of the State Board of Education. In August, Pence announced the creation of a new education agency, the Center for Education and Career Innovation, to align the state’s workforce development efforts. Ritz says she was left out of the loop.

Ritz is in the difficult position of having to implement the policies of her predecessor, with which she mostly disagrees. She’d like to dismantle the current A-F grading system, which she says has a detrimental effect on communities whose schools have been labeled as “failing.” Ritz is also against the expansion of school vouchers.

But she’s acknowledged getting her policies enacted without Democrats in the statehouse will be an uphill battle. Republican legislative leaders said if the situation between the superintendent and the State Board didn’t improve, they’d consider stripping Ritz of her power to chair the Board – and they tried.

During the 2015 “education session,” legislators made restructuring the State Board a priority. Despite failed attempts to take Ritz’s chair position away, they were able to pass legislation that would allow the board to elect its own chair beginning in 2017, at the end of Ritz’s first term.